Apparatus for the electrical treatment of vapors or gases.



W. T. HOOFNAGIB.

APPARATUS FOR THE ELECTRICAL TREATMENT OP VAPORS OR GASES.

APPLICATION FILED OC'IHG., 1911. l

1,014,151, y Patented Jan;9,1912.

' A El f ,I gnou/woz.' /mwm UNITED sTAIEs PATENT oEEIoE.

' WILLIAM T. HOOFNAGLE, 0F GLEN RIDGE, NEW JERSEYQv APPARATUSl ron. THE ELECTRICAL TREATMENT or' vAPoRs on GASES.

Specication4 of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 6, 1911. Serial No. 653,210.

To all whom 'it may concern.

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM T. Hoor- NAGLE, a citizen of ,the United States, residing at Glen Ridge, in the county of Essex and' State of New Jersey, have invented certain" new and useful Improvements in Ap.

conducting the vapor or gas to be treated through a chamber, under less than atmospheric pressure,l and subjecting the vapor` or gas-to an electrical field within-the c hamber, which results in rapid change-in the vapor or' gas. In the present application I have illustrated,'d'escribed and claimed the apparatus disclosed but not claimed in my former patent,'which apparatus may be used for the electrical treatment of various gases and vapors and is not limited to the spepatent or hereinafter mentioned.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows, partly in side elevation and partly' in vertical section, an apparatus for embody-- ing my invention, and, F ig.l 2 is a sectional view on theline 2--2 of Fig. 1.

C Referring to the drawing, A indicates a cooling orfreezing compartment of a vacuum chamber, adapted to contain a liquid L,

and B indicates suitable mechanical exhaust mechanism for creating a vacuum in said compartment, this exhaust mechanism beingconnected to the compartment A through a tube C and a .casing D which envelops the tube and -is connected to the compartment A vby a suitable conduit l. The arrangement is such that vapors passingfrom the compartment A to the exhaust mechanism must first pass upward through the casing D and then tl'irough the tube- C. The upper portion 2 'ofthe casing D consists of a cylinf drical tube or bell of glass, or -other suitable` dielectric` material, closed at the top by acap 3, and the tube lor cylinder C is also preferably made of glass and is concentrically arranged within the inclosing casing D.. The upper end of the tube C is open and its lower end lits air-tight around an opening 4 in the bottom of the casing D. A suitable coupling 5 connects the suction end `of the pump b with the tube C through the opening 4. The tube C, as shown, has an interior lining 6 oflmetal foil, the lower end of which is electrically connected to the metal-part 2al of the casing D The lglass uportion 2 of said casing has an outer coating 7 of metal foil. These metal foils 6 and 7 are connected, respectively, by conductors 8 and 9 to the terminals of a suitable Source of high frequency and high potential electric currents, such as the well-known Tesla oscillator, indicated in the drawing by,` the reference -letter E. In the drawing the con- Patena Jan. 9,1912. i

ductoi 8 is connected to the metal portion,

of the casing D and the current .passes from its source through said'conductor and the casing to the metal foil elect-rode 6. V.The

lowerend of the metal foil electrode .7 isv l arranged at a suitable distance above .the

metal portion of the casing to prevent sparking between the said electrode and the casing. Then high frequency current is ap plied to the apparatusa diffused electrical discharge takes place between the electrodes 6 and 7, thus creating a practically-.uniform electrical field in the path oftheattenuated eoA vapors, between the glass tubes C and D f atmospheric pressure, is muchmore readily decomposed by the electric current tha'nwater in liquid form at the same pressure.- I have found that as the pressure is removed from the vapors the ratio of decomposition to energy expended largely increases, and

that in a high vacuum, suchas it' is necessary to maintain in vacuum refrigerating apparatus, a practically perfect decomposition of the vapors withdrawn from thewater can be accomplished with a compara'- tively small expenditure of electricalA energy. This mixture of oxygen and hydrogen gases may be drawn out directly bythe Vpumping mechanism and used for laboratoryor other purposes if desired.

4-lVhen utilizing the apparatus for refrigerating purposes, it willv be evident that the gases resulting from the decomposition of the water vapor will naturallyA occupy more spa-ce within the vacuum chamber than the water vapor itself. I, therefore, -provide means for igniting and burning, and thus recombining these gases into a dense form as close as possible to the mouth of the ioo expansion takes place. While all of the.

vapor extractedv from'the ,water or brine passes through the pump, its volume is greatly reduced owing -to its dense form when entering the pump.

As shown in the drawings, an igniting device 's arranged within the coupling-piece 5 directly at'the mouth of the rotary pump b. This igniting device may be Aof any suitable kind which will ignite the gases, although, preferably, this device, Ishould not itself give ofl' a great quantity of heat. A high tension current may be employed to give a practically constant series of sparks. In the drawings, the device shown consists o f a pair of electrodes 10 and 11 projecting toward one another within the couplingpiece 5 and these electrodes are connected to any suitable source of electrical energy G for maintaining a flow of current between the ends of the electrodes, which may be of any suitable material.

In the drawing, a series of rotary pumps for exhausting the vapor is shown for the 'reason thatthe igniting device can be brought close to the buckets of the pump and the vapor is instantly and constantly Withdrawn when formed at the igniting device. In the drawing the pumps are shown in outline, b indicating the low compression pump, bf the intermediate. pump and b2 thev igh compression pump. The low and intermediate pumps, as shown, are connected by a pipe 12 and the compression side of the intermediate pump is connected by a pipe 13, to a condenser H. The condenser has suitable inlet and outlet pipes 15 and 16, respectively, for the circulation of cooling water through its coils, and a pipe 17 extends downwardly from the condenser into a well 18 so that the water of condensation from the vapors is carried into the well. The well is at a suitable distance below the condenser and the pipe`17 extends beneath.

the water in the well so that air cannot be drawn into the condenser,nor can water 1n the well be drawn into the condenser on account of the height of the latter 'above the water.

While the apparatus above described may be applied to the vapor-ization of fresh water or the manufacture of ice therefrom vmeans for maintaining a within thevacuum chamber, yet in the drawing I have illustrated'it as employed in connection with a brine circulating system of refrigeration. In the drawing I indicates a tank containing fresh water within which are arranged flat metal casings 20, shown in edge view in the drawing, and containing coils 21, through which brine is circulated by means of a pump 22. A suction pipe 23 extends from the pump into the cooling or vacuum chamber A and the brine L is drawn from saidl chamber by the pump and forced through a pipe 24: to the coils in the flat casings 20. The brine is returned from these coils to the vacuum chamber through a pipe 25. When the apparatus is in operation, plate ice 26 is formed upon the sides of the casings 20. A pipe 27 is connected to the pipe 25 for the purpose of furnishing cold brine for refrigerators. The water taken from the brine by 'evaporation is compensated for by a water admitted through a supply pipe 28. The fresh supply of water can be taken from any source, but preferably condensed .water which is free of air, is used.

What I claim is 1. The combination with a chamber, and

flow of gas or vapor therethrough under `.substantially less than atmospheric pressure, of means for maintaining an `electrical field Within said chamber. l

2. The combination with a chamber having walls of insulating material and means for maintaining a fiow of gas or vapor therethrough under `substantially less than atmospheric pressure, of means for maintaining an electrical field within saidchamber.

3. The combination with an exhaust mechanism of a closed chamber adapted to contain a fluid, an intermediate chamber connecting the closed chamber with said mechanism, and means for maintaining an electrical field in said intermediate chamber.

4. The combination with an exhaust mechanism, of atube of insulating material connected thereto, a casing of insulating material surrounding the tube and separated therefrom, alclosed chamber communicating with saidl casing, and -means for maintaining an electrical field between said WILLIAM T, HooFNAGL'E.

' Witnesses: l

MAURICE S. ROSENFELD, FREDERICK LASKEY, 

